Apparitions (1997)
"Apparitions" was the third music video released from the Underdogs album and marked a cinematic evolution for Matthew Good Band. Directed by Bill Morrison, the video unfolds inside a modern corporate office tower during late-night hours, combining quiet surrealism with understated tragedy.
The story follows a company executive whose firm is on the brink of bankruptcy. After hiring a prostitute, he dies by suicide in one of the building’s offices, a moment captured only by security cameras.
Matthew Good plays a janitor who moves through the empty hallways, engaging in playful sword fights with a security guard and drifting through his nightly routine. His course changes when he discovers the executive’s body and alerts the guard, who had already witnessed the prostitute crying in the elevator via CCTV footage.
Intercut scenes show a range of office workers detached from their surroundings: a secretary playing FreeCell, a janitor solving crosswords, and an executive bleeding from a cocaine-induced nosebleed.
Trivia
- The exterior shot of the building is the Vancouver (British Columbia) Central Library at Library Square in downtown. The actual building is circular but they managed to get it at an angle so it looks rectangular.
- The interior shots were filmed at The Toronto Dominion Tower in downtown Vancouver, BC. You can just see the blurred lights of Pacific Centre Shopping Mall outside the doors.
- A rising executive (played by guitarist Dave Genn) attends a cocktail party, oblivious to the chaos around him.
- Reached #1 on the MuchMusic Countdown in October 1998.
- Nominated for Best Video at the 1999 Juno Awards.
